TAKING HEART.

We rowed together when the dusk
Was falling on the river-tide,

A river in a fenny land,

And marshy reeds beside :

And shadows of the pollard ash
Fell o'er us as we glided on,
And silence like a mother took
The spirit of each one.

The dashing of the measured oar
Made music in the fading light,
And had an earnest symboling
That girded us with might.

It spake as it were one of us,

With thrilling voice-though seeming weak, And so took echo in our hearts

As if ourselves did speak.

It said, "Oh, brothers, in a life
Of struggle that awaiteth us;
That cometh on our boyhood time
Like as this twilight close;

"That maketh all things dim to us,
And but regrets, that were our joys;
That sayeth, brace your spirit up
To be no more a boy's :-

"Oh, brother, brother men," it said,

66

May hearts and hands together go;

So better shall we do the right,

So better bear the woe."

We rested on our oars awhile,
The water-ripple died away,
We looked :-one solitary star
Was throbbing in the gray.

We listened in a quiet trance:
There was no sound of anything,
Save in the reeds a very light
And gentle whispering.

Until at length, ah, beautiful!
Came to us from a village by,
Came to us on a chilly wind
A chimèd melody.

A melancholy vesper chime;
So very sweet, so very sad;
And such a lulled lingering

Of mellow sound it had!

A second time, and once again,
Upon the twilight did it pass;
Then like a feather seemed to fall,
And settle on the grass.

And such a touch of childish things
And thoughts came with it over us;
And visions of each fading flower
That in the child-wood grows;

So many dreams we cherished once,
And wove into a strange romance,
Of beauty and of fairy lands,
And love and dalliance.

So many thoughts, so many things,

To us who thought of manhood's will;

No marvel that a shadow fell

Upon our spirits still.

How many white hands beckoning

Far off, did seem to call us back! How many clouds lay gathered thick About the onward track!

Even a moment lingered we,

In sorrow for the days of yore,
In moodiness and much regret,
A moment, and no more.

Then with a sudden grasp we took

The waiting oar, "how dark the night!"

So "ready, all," so "pull on all,"

"God grant we steer aright."

"S."

A FEW MORE WORDS ON "THE EAGLE."

MR. EDITOR,

of ap

I propose to address to you a few remarks by way pendix to the introductory paper which appeared in your first number. I am induced to do so, at the risk of being called presumptuous for encroaching uninvited on the editorial province, because I have heard many complain, that that paper does not set forth with sufficient prominence the advantages they hoped would result from the establishment of a Johnian Magazine, and does not contain any reference to the necessary conditions for securing them.

The influence such a Periodical as the present is likely to exercise upon our composition, upon our power of expressing accurately what we wish to say, is sufficiently obvious, and much has already been said concerning it; but is facility in writing the only advantage to be gained from it? is it even, taken by itself, an advantage at all? Certainly not-and if it did not seem probable that the evil of appearing in print at so early an age would be balanced by many more solid advantages, I for one certainly would not have subscribed to it, or in any way endeavoured to support it. There is a tendency in all to read superficially, to consider in the light of a relaxation everything that does not bear directly upon their special work, and to estimate the amount gained by the amount read. This tendency the "Eagle" will, I believe, to some extent counteract; for every one who writes for it must, whether he has done so before or not, read carefully, slowly, thoughtfully, in order that what he writes may be worth reading. When then we consider to how limited an extent Literature, History and the Sciences of Mind are recognized objects of study among us, the Junior Members of this University, I cannot but hope and believe that our Magazine may thus exercise an influence of which we cannot well calculate the advantages to be reaped in future years. If, from a desire to write for it, any Undergraduate is induced to read thoroughly even one great work, I am sure that to him the "Eagle" will have been a very good friend.

Further the subjects discussed in its pages will naturally be again discussed in Hall, in our rooms, in our walks; and

the papers will in this way be submitted to a franker but at the same time a kinder criticism than we are ever likely to meet with hereafter. Many will thus have errors pointed out to them, whether in style or speculative tendencies, which, if allowed to grow up unheeded, could not perhaps in later years be rooted out, but which they will now, when detected in their very germ, be able to guard against and avoid. Neither need these benefits end with those who write. The critics, as well as the authors, cannot fail to gain much from the discussion and probing of principles which must inevitably arise; even though the amount of information conveyed should not be very great.

Again--there is a tendency among us-I appeal to the experience of any Undergraduate-to attach a disproportionate value to the material advantages which result from study; to look upon Learning, not as better than House and Land, but as the means for obtaining them. conceive no temptation more dangerous than this, no feeling which is so opposed to all healthy working, and which, if not struggled against, will so effectually tend to destroy the benefit derivable from College life and three years of hearty study; in a word, no principle which we, as Students and future professional men, are so peculiarly called upon to protest against as this, involving as it does the love of money, the besetting sin of the age. May not the " Eagle" greatly assist us in resisting this, may it not serve to remind us that there are other problems besides those of Mathematics, and that while we must not neglect the studies which our Alma Mater has enjoined as the best foundation for higher ones, neither must we forget that in a few years we shall be working as Clergymen, Teachers, Lawyers, &c., and that we cannot afford to spend all our Student life in laying the foundation, lest the Winter should set in before the edifice can be raised upon it.

But this is not all-The Magazine is not purely an Undergraduate one. It is to be supported by Members of St. John's College; an extension which will, I hope, in many ways increase its efficiency and beneficial influence.

I have heard it remarked by many, that there has been a perceptible increase of unity among Johnians during the last few years, that the sharper boundaries of sets, schools, and years appear to be gradually disappearing. I hope that in this direction also the "Eagle" may be an instrument of good among us, that it may be the common ground on which all may meet as Fellow-workers, Fellow-Johnians, and that it

may draw together many who would otherwise perhaps in our large Society be widely separated. I see no reason why any member of St. John's College should consider himself exempted from an occasional contribution to its pages. I know not why "the Social Theorist at the bar, old So and "So of the Indian service, or our poetic friend at his curacy "in Yorkshire," should not for at least two or three years after Degree-Day send us papers on their new experiences or new reading, as much as the resident Fellows and Undergraduates of our Society.

"But my good fellow," whispers a kind friend, who tries to be a well-wisher; "These visions have been seen before, "this is not the first Magazine that has been started by Un"dergraduates, others have been as sanguine as you are, and "as they were disappointed, so also, I fear, will you."

This fear, I admit, is not wholly without foundation. There have been, it is true, Magazines enough professing to be University ones; they failed because they were not what they pretended to be, because they were Universal, and not University. They possessed no characteristics which could distinguish them as University Magazines, they could in no sense be said to represent the Members of the University; in fact they were started by a clique, and died with the clique.

Such is not the case with the present. It is essentially a College, a Johnian Magazine; this is its characteristic feature; from Johnians alone will contributions be received; Johnians alone have you asked to subscribe. You will of course be pleased to receive any one as a subscriber-it is no hole and corner concern-but as Editors you have done nothing to advertise it or extend it beyond the walls of the College. It appeals therefore to a limited number; it competes with nothing; it stands on its own peculiar footing.

Again-it was not started by a clique, its present Editors do not form a clique; and, if I understand rightly, you are now making arrangements to prevent, as far as you can, its ever being managed by a clique.

And now, before I conclude, let me add a word or two on the subjects to be treated of in your pages. For the purpose of illustration you will perhaps excuse me if I refer to the first number. I have heard it complained in one quarter that that number was too light, in another that it was too heavy. I have rejoiced to think that general criticism of this kind you could not heed, that you could not attempt to remedy one without increasing the other objection. I

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